ABCS 2013-2014

Fall 2013 ABCS Courses

:-) = Good introduction to ABCS; Particularly appropriate for freshmen; All students welcome

* = New ABCS course

Undergraduate Courses

:-) GLOBALIZATION: CAUSES AND EFFECTS

ANTH 155 - Brian Spooner

This course analyses the current state of globalization & sets it in historical perspective. It applies the concepts & methods of anthropology, history, political economy & sociology to the analysis and interpretation of what is actually happening in the course of the semester that relates to the progress of globalization. We focus on a series of questions not only about actual processes but about the growing awareness of them, and the consequence of this awareness. In answering these questions, we distinguish between active campaigns to cover the world (e.g. proselytism, opening up markets, democratization) and the unplanned diffusion of new ways of organizing trade, capital flows, tourism and the Internet. The body of the course will deal with particular dimensions of globalization, reviewing both the early and recent history of these processes. The overall approach will be historical and comparative, setting globalization on the larger stage of economic, political and cultural development. The course is taught collaboratively by an anthropologist, a historian, and a sociologist, offering the opportunity to compare and contrast distinct disciplinary points of view. It seeks to develop a concept-based understanding the various dimensions of globalization: political, social, and cultural.

:-) HEALTH IN URBAN COMMUNITIES

ANTH 312-401/URBS 312-401/HSOC 321-401 – Francis Johnston

Freshman Seminar

This course will introduce students to anthropological approaches to health and to theories of participatory action research. This combined theoretical perspective will then be put into practice using West Philadelphia community schools as a case study. Students will become involved in design and implementation of health-related projects at an urban elementary or middle school. As one of the course requirements, students will be expected to produce a detailed research proposal for future implementation.

FEMINIST ETHNOGRAPHY

ANTH-334-401/ANTH-634-401/AFRC-334-401/AFRC-634-401/GSWS-334-401/GSWS-634-401 - Deborah Thomas

This course will investigate the relationships among women, gender, sexuality, and anthropological research. We will begin by exploring the trajectory of research interest in women and gender, drawing first from the early work on gender and sex by anthropologists like Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict; moving through the 1970s and 1980s arguments about gender, culture, and political economy; arriving at more current concerns with gender, race, sexuality, and empire. For the rest of the semester, we will critically read contemporary ethnographies addressing pressing issues such as nationalism, militarism, neoliberalism and fundamentalism. Throughout, we will investigate what it means not only to "write women's worlds", but also to analyze broader socio-cultural, political, and economic processes through a gendered lens. We will, finally, address the various ways feminist anthropology fundamentally challenged the discipline's epistemological certainties, as well as how it continues to transform our understanding of the foundations of the modern world.

PUBLIC INTEREST WORKSHOP

ANTH 516-401/AFST-516-401/GSWS-516-401/URBS-516-401 – Gretchen Suess

Fulfills the Quantitative Data Analysis Foundational Requirement

This is a Public Interest Ethnography workshop (originally created by Peggy Reeves Sanday - Department of Anthropology) that incorporates an interdisciplinary approach to exploring social issues. Open to graduate and advanced undergraduate students, the workshop is a response to Amy Gutmann's call for interdisciplinary cooperation across the University and to the Department of Anthropology's commitment to developing public interest research and practice as a disciplinary theme. Rooted in the rubric of public interest social science, the course focuses on: 1) merging problem solving with theory and analysis in the interest of change motivated by a commitment to social justice, racial harmony, equality, and human rights; and 2) engaging in public debate on human issues to make research results accessible to a broader audience. The workshop brings in guest speakers and will incorporate original ethnographic research to merge theory with action. Students are encouraged to apply the framing model to a public interest research and action topic of their choice. This is an academically-based-community-service (ABCS) course that partners directly with Penn's Netter Center Community Partnerships.

:-) *GLOBAL DIGITAL ACTIVISM

COMM 270-401 - Guobin Yang

Freshman Seminar
This seminar examines the forms, causes, and consequences of global digital activism, defined broadly as activism associated with the use of digital media technologies (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, mobile phones, and the Chinese Weibo). The goal is to provide students with a theoretical tool-kit for analyzing digital activism and to develop a critical understanding of the nature of contemporary activism and its implications for global social change. Major cases to be examined include the "Occupy Wall Street" movement in the US, the Arab Spring, the "indignados" protests in Spain, and internet activism in China. Students are required to conduct primary, hands-on research on a contemporary case (or form) of digital activism and produce a final research paper. This research project may be done individually or in small groups.

:-) URBAN EDUCATION

EDUC 202/URBS 202 - AJ Schiera

Fulfills the Culture and Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

This course focuses on various perspectives on urban education, conditions for teaching and learning in urban public schools, current theories of pedagogy in urban classrooms along with a close examination of a few representative and critical issues. Students will have the opportunity to work in a classroom or after school educational setting in West Philadelphia through Community Schools Student Partnerships, the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative, or AVID College Readiness System. While our focus is on schools in the United States, we will broaden our discussion at times to examine the same issues from an international perspective. The course is designed around the following themes (1) perspectives on urban education, (2) the broader urban context of K-12 schooling, (3) teaching and learning in urban settings, and (4) responses to the persistent challenges in urban schools. These themes should provide multiple lenses with which to explore the complexities of urban education. Major theoretical perspectives on schooling and various proposals by researchers and policymakers that address particular challenges in urban education will also be addressed.

:-) CULTURALLY RELEVANT TEACHING AND LEARNING

EDUC 245-002 - Brian Peterson

This course explores the history, ideas, and practice of an urban education style known as cultural relevance. The underlying goal of this approach is to use research, holistic interaction, and meaningful learning experiences to better connect with students who may not fully associate with more standard public school practices. Via field work with Ase Academy, an academic and cultural out-of-school program hosted at Penn, and Community Schools Student Partnerships sites students in the course will have the unique opportunity to put their tools into practice weekly, developing and facilitating activities for secondary students.

TUTORING IN URBAN ELEMENTARY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: A CHILD DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE

EDUC 326 401/URBS 326 401 - John Fantuzzo

Students will study early childhood development and learning while providing direct, one-to-one tutoring services to young students in West Philadelphia public schools. These schools include Henry C. Lea Elementary School, and Penn Alexander School.

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS IN ARTS, CULTURE, AND EDUCATION

EDUC 501/URBS 501 – Edward Epstein

Students will learn the significance and workings of university-community collaborations to create works of art and educate the public about the arts. The course will explore the idea of art as an incubator for development, both of the individual mind and the surrounding community. Through reading, research, and practice participants will understand the effect of placing artists in schools and placing/presenting works of art in public space. Course readings and discussion will be augmented by visits from faculty members in various disciplines whose work touches on art and community. The course is designated as Academic-based Community Service (ABCS), and will require students to assist in a visual or performing arts partnership that the instructor has organized. The class will connect students with visual artists from the 40th St. Artist-in-Residence (AIRSpace) program, as well as performing artists from the Annenberg Center and the Rotunda.

SCIENCE IN ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS

EDUC 521 001 - NancyLee Bergey

In this ABCS course, undergraduate students work in a West Philadelphia public school classroom as the students in that classroom learn science and social studies skills, and apply them to environmental content.

TEACHING PERFORMANCE ART FOR CROSS-CULTURAL EDUCATION

EDUC 539 401 - Suzana Berger

This class examines issues related to cultural communities and the arts, specifically performance, writing and storytelling as an educational tool for generating cross cultural and intercultural understanding, dialogue and exchange. Assignments will focus on, cross-cultural research and dialogue, and skill building in teaching, writing and performance. Students will also develop an understanding of how performance can be used to enhance classroom activities in elementary/middle/secondary/post secondary classroom curricula.

URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: SPEAKING ABOUT LEAD IN WEST PHILADELPHIA (CWIC and BFS)

ENVS 404 401/HSOC 404 401 - Rich Pepino

Fulfills the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Sector Requirement (VII)

Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, impaired hearing, behavioral problems, and at very high levels, seizures, coma and even death. Children up to the age of six are especially at risk because of their developing systems; they often ingest lead chips and dust while playing in their home and yards. In ENVS 404, Penn undergraduates learn about the epidemiology of lead poisoning, the pathways of exposure, and methods for community outreach and education. Penn students collaborate with middle school and high school teachers in West Philadelphia to engage middle school children in exercises that apply environmental research related to lead poisoning to their homes and neighborhoods. The middle school student partners, like the Penn students, are not just recipients of knowledge and service, but rather the middle school students become deliverers of service as they work with family members and peers on behaviors and practices that can actually reduce lead exposure.

:-) URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: THE URBAN ASTHMA EPIDEMIC (CWIC)

ENVS 408 401/HSOC 408 401 - Mick Kulik

Asthma as a pediatric chronic disease is undergoing a dramatic and unexplained increase. It has become the number one cause of public school absenteeism and now accounts for a significant number of childhood deaths each year in the USA. The Surgeon General of the United States has characterized childhood asthma as an epidemic. In ENVS 408, Penn undergraduates learn about the epidemiology of urban asthma, the debate about the probable causes of the current asthma crisis, and the nature and distribution of environmental factors that modern medicine describes as potential triggers of asthma episodes. Penn students collaborate with middle school and high school teachers in West Philadelphia to engage middle school children in exercises that apply environmental research relating to asthma. The middle school student partners, like the Penn students, are not just recipients of knowledge and service, but rather the middle school students become deliverers of service as they work with family members and peers on behaviors and practices that can actually reduce asthma triggers.

CLEAN WATER – GREEN CITIES

ENVS 410 - Howard Neukrug

This course will provide an overview of the cross-disciplinary fields of civil engineering, environmental sciences, urban hydrology, landscape architecture, green building, public outreach and politics. Students will work throughout the semester on a community based project whose scope will be collaboratively determined by the student and community partner. Throughout the course, students will conduct field investigations, review scientific data and create indicator reports, work with stakeholders and present the results at an annual symposium. There is no metaphor like water itself to describe the cumulative effects of our practices, with every upstream action having an impact downstream. In our urban environment, too often we find degraded streams filled with trash, silt, weeds and dilapidated structures. The water may look clean, but is it? We blame others, but the condition of the creeks is directly related to how we manage our water resources and our land. In cities, these resources are often our homes, our streets and our communities. This course will define the current issues of the urban ecosystem and how we move toward managing this system in a sustainable manner. We will gain an understanding of the dynamic, reciprocal relationship between practices in a watershed and its waterfront. Topics discussed include: drinking water quality and protection, green infrastructure, urban impacts of climate change, watershed monitoring, public education, creating strategies and more.

THE BIG PICTURE: MURAL ARTS IN PHILADELPHIA

FNAR 222/FNAR 622/URBS 322 – Jane Golden & Shira Walinsky

The history and practice of the contemporary mural movement couples step by step analysis of the process of designing with painting a mural. In addition, students will learn to see mural art as a tool for social change. This course combines theory with practice. Students will work with partners at Henry C. Lea Community School in West Philadelphia and community groups to design and paint a large outdoor mural. The instructor Jane Golden is the founder and Director of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.

:-) FACULTY-STUDENT COLLABORATIVE ACTION SEMINAR IN URBAN UNIVERSITY-COMMUNITY RELATIONS

HIST 173-401/URBS 178-401/AFRC 078-401 – Ira Harkavy

Fulfills the Cultural Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

Benjamin Franklin Seminar

One of the goals of this seminar is to help students develop their capacity to solve strategic, real-world problems by working collaboratively in the classroom, on campus, and in the West Philadelphia community. Research teams help contribute to the improvement of education on campus and in the community, as well as the improvement of university-community relations. Among other responsibilities, students focus their community service on college and career readiness at two West Philadelphia High Schools: Sayre High School and West Philadelphia High School. Students are typically engaged in academically-based community service learning at the schools on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. A primary goal of the seminar is to help students develop proposals as to how a Penn undergraduate education might better empower students to produce, not simply “consume,” societally-useful knowledge, as well as function as caring, contributing citizens of a democratic society.

THE COMMUNITY MATH TEACHING PROGRAM

MATH 122 001 - Idris Stovall

This course allows Penn students to teach a series of hands-on activities to students in math classes at high schools in West Philadelphia. The semester starts with an introduction to successful approaches for teaching math in urban high schools. The rest of the semester will be devoted to a series of weekly hands-on activities designed to teach fundamental aspects of geometry. In the first class meeting of each week, Penn faculty will teach Penn students the relevant mathematical background and techniques for a hands-on activity. During the second session of each week, Penn students will teach the hands-on activity to small groups of high school students. Penn students will also have an opportunity to develop their own activities and implement them with the high school students.

OBESITY AND SOCIETY

NURS 313 401 – Charlene Compher

This course will examine obesity from scientific, cultural, psychological, and economic perspectives through classroom based readings and discussion as well as hands on work in partnership with the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative. The complex matrix of factors that contribute to obesity and established treatment options will be explored.

:-) THE COMMUNITY PHYSICS INITIATIVE

PHYS 137 – Larry Gladney

The goal is to develop a course that links practical and theoretical attributes of some fundamental physics concepts to engage students in significant research and service activities between Penn students and West Philadelphia high school students. Penn students learn theoretical and practical physics by creating and teaching hands on physics lessons to high school students. This class meets weekly at UCHS and incorporates a joint class trip to Dorney Park’s Physics Day, which focuses on the physics of roller coasters and teaches students how to use accelerometers to measure, graph, and analyze data they obtain during their roller coaster rides.

THE POLITICS OF FOOD

PSCI-135-401/HSOC-135-401 – Mary Summers, Jane Kauer

This academically based community service seminar will explore the many different politics that shape food production and consumption and problems like food insecurity and obesity here in West Philadelphia and around the world. Students will be encouraged to think broadly about how people engage in politics --articulate goals, form alliances, struggle for power, respond to and engage in leadership- in many different areas: cities, farms, factories, kitchens, markets, schools, churches, research institutions, social movements, elections, legislatures. A focus on case studies of leaders who have made a difference in the politics of food will include guest speakers, who work on food related issues.

:-) *POVERTY AND INEQUALITY

SOCI-041-301 – Kristen Harknett - Freshman Seminar
In this seminar, we will focus on inequality in the distribution of resources in the U.S. population. In the current context of rising economic inequality, rising poverty, and high unemployment in the U.S., the issues in the course are particularly pressing and timely. We start by examining economic deprivation, addressing questions such as: How do we measure poverty and inequality in the U.S. and elsewhere? What causes poverty? What are the set of anti-poverty policy approaches that have been tried, and how effective have they been? We then focus on four domains related to economic deprivation: (1) low-wage labor markets, (2) health inequalities, (3) inequalities in educational systems and outcomes, and (4) parenting and family structure. The course material focuses on the U.S. as a whole but we will also pay special attention to issues of poverty and inequality in our Philadelphia locale.

LATINOS IN THE UNITED STATES

SOCI 266/ LALS235 - Emilio Parrado

Fulfills the Culture and Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

This course presents a broad overview of the Latino population in the United States that focuses on the economic and sociological aspects of Latino immigration and assimilation. Students will have the opportunity to partner with Casa Monarca, a grass root organization located in South Philadelphia. Topics to be covered include: construction of Latino identity, the history of U.S. Latino immigration, Latino family patterns and household structure, Latino educational attainment. Latino incorporation into the U.S. labor force, earnings and economic well-being among Latino-origin groups, assimilation and the second generation. The course will stress the importance of understanding Latinos within the overall system of race and ethnic relations in the U.S., as well as in comparison with previous immigration flows, particularly from Europe. We will pay particular attention to the economic impact of Latino immigration on both the U.S. receiving and Latin American sending communities, and the efficacy and future possibilities of U.S. immigration policy. Within all of these diverse topics, we will stress the heterogeneity of the Latino population according to national origin groups (i.e. Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and other Latinos), as well as generational differences between immigrants and the native born.

*AUGUST WILSON & BEYOND: AFRICAN AMERICAN THEATER IN COMMUNITY CONTEXT

AFRC-017-402/ENGL-016-402

Freshman Seminar; Arts Scholars Program

Students will read August Wilson's 20th Century Cycle along with the works of current playwrights who have been influenced by Wilson (such as Tarell Alvin McCraney and Suzan Lori-Parks), plus supporting material on African American theatre, theatre-based community partnerships, and West Philadelphia history. The readings will form the basis of conversations with West Philadelphia residents. Working collaboratively, students will set out to create a new play inspired by the readings and these conversations. Students do not need to have a theatre background prior to this course to register.

Graduate Courses

OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL BOX: HISTORY, POLICY AND ALTERNATIVES

EDUC 545 - Mike Johanek

This course has a problem at its core. Students are invited to work toward its resolution, and to produce useful guidance to others interested in it. Our general problem will be the broad discontent regarding U.S. schools, and more specifically, the manner in which policy makers and educators now seek to address educational performance. Many viable solutions to this problem appear to run through a common pathway, namely, the requirement to break away from the isolation of schooling toward a wider education policy/practice, and to address education “broadly understood” amidst the variety of educating agencies within any community. Students will design and implement research of use to community stakeholders invested in the education of West Philadelphia students. The aim of this research will be to support leading community stakeholders in answering the questions they feel are most urgent in addressing the educational challenges faced by the students at UCHS.

MULTICULTURAL ISSUES IN EDUCATION

EDUC 723-001/EDUC 723-401/AFRC 723-401 – Vivian Gadsden

This course examines critical issues, problems, and perspectives in multicultural education. Intended to focus on access to literacy and educational opportunity, the course will engage class members in discussions around a variety of topics in educational practice, research, and policy. Specifically, the course will (1) review theoretical frameworks in multicultural education, (2) analyze the issues of race, racism, and culture in historical and contemporary perspective, and (3) identify obstacles to participation in the educational process by diverse cultural and ethnic groups. Students will be required to complete field experiences and classroom activities that enable them to reflect on their own belief systems, practices, and educational experiences.

*VISUAL LEGAL ADVOCACY CLINIC: DOCUMENTARIES AND THE LAW

LAW-979-001- Regina Austin

Visual Legal Advocacy Seminar introduces law students to the art of making short nonfiction advocacy films on behalf of local, individual clients and/or nonprofit groups seeking to advance the cause of social justice. Students will also engage with scholars from other disciplines who make films about community life and deal with issues of “image ethics” as well as reach out to local community leaders and activists from Philadelphia who might be interested in collaborating on a visual legal advocacy project.

HEALTH PROMOTION INTRODUCTION

DENT 508 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

Lectures, seminars, clinical sessions and community experiences are provided so that students gain the necessary knowledge and skill regarding the philosophy, modalities, rationale and evaluation of oral health promotion and disease prevention activities in community and public health. Course topics include personal wellness theory and practice; etiology, early detection and prevention of dental caries, periodontal diseases and oral cancer; and assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of community oral health programs.

LOCAL & GLOBAL PUBLIC & COMMUNITY HEALTH

DENT 612 (full year course)

Lectures, seminars and community experiences provide students with foundation knowledge in general principles of public health and community health, with specific application to the following dental public health concepts: access to care, cost, quality of care and international health. Students complete community experiences that provide foundation experiences in developing and implementing community oral health promotion activities.

PRACTICUM IN COMMUNITY HEALTH PROMOTION I

DENT 712 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

Experiences in selected community settings provide students with the opportunity to develop and expand their skills in community oral health promotion. Students are scheduled in a local elementary and/ middle schools and participate in the oral health education, screening and referral program under the direct supervision of faculty members. In addition, students complete activities from a selected list of programs at local community agencies and/or schools. Students attend small group seminars to discuss their experiences and theoretical underpinnings of community oral health activities.

PRACTICUM IN COMMUNITY HEALTH PROMOTION II

DENT 812 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

Experiences in alternate oral health care delivery settings provide students with the opportunity to develop and expand their skills in providing comprehensive oral health care in community based settings under the direct supervision of faculty members. Students are scheduled in the mobile dental vehicle, PENNSmiles, and are also scheduled at Community Volunteers in Medicine, a community based medical and dental treatment facility in West Chester, PA. Students attend small group seminars to discuss their experiences and theoretical underpinnings of community oral health activities.

PROFESSIONAL ROLE ISSUES FOR NURSE PRACTITIONERS

NURS 656 (Corequisite: NURS 657) - Ann O’ Sullivan, June Treston

This course is intended for students planning a career that involves primary health care delivery. It includes lectures, discussions, readings, and projects focused on health, social, economic and professional factors influencing health care delivery in the community.

Spring 2014 ABCS Courses

:-) = Good introduction to ABCS; Particularly appropriate for freshmen; All students welcome

Undergraduate Courses

TUTORING SCHOOL: THEORY AND PRACTICE

EDUC-323-401/URBS-323-401- Jackie Kasher

This course represents an opportunity for students to participate in academically-based community service involving tutoring in a West Philadelphis public school. This course will serve a need for those students who are already tutoring through other campus tutoring organizations. It will also be available to individuals who are interested in tutoring for the first time.

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

SOCI 001-001 – Melissa Wilde

ABCS Recitation Numbers: SOCI 001-002 and SOCI 001-201

Fulfills the Society Sector Requirement

Fulfills the Cultural Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

This course is designed to teach students what sociology is, and to introduce you to what we as sociologists do. My goal is to convince you that sociology is interesting and important. Over the semester, we will read original work in the sociology of inequality, deviance, gender and religion. You will learn how the research was conducted, what was found, and what those findings tell us about our society. As you are reading these studies, you will also be working with Jackson Elementary School, a very diverse, economically disadvantaged, but dynamic and exciting school in South Philadelphia. It will be your task to identify a program or need the school has, to find a grant or granting agency that would be interested in filling that need, and to complete a grant application or develop a long-term program that will benefit the school.

SCIENCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL

EDUC-421-401/ENVS-421-401- Nancylee Bergey

An intensive approach to current methods, curricula, and trends in teaching science as basic learning, K-8. "Hands-on" activities based on cogent, current philosophical and psychological theories including: S/T/S and gender issues. Focus on skill development in critical thinking. Content areas: living things, the physical universe, and interacting ecosystems.

:-) URBAN EDUCATION

EDUC 202/URBS 202 – Paul Skilton-Sylvester

Fulfills the Culture and Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement.

LEARN

ENGL-145-401- Lorene Cary

"Learn" is an advanced non-fiction writing class that requires students to find extraordinary learning going on in public schools, and to understand, articulate, and document it. They begin writing about their own learning, noticing where their own intellects and passion and skills have been nurtured. Then they look for a group, maybe one particular student or alumnus, who has experienced transformational learning: intellectual, social, emotional, artistic, or physical. The language of deficit and indignation is everywhere around us, but it is harder to write so as to make the reader fall in love with learning, and to do it as it happens in an urban setting. That's our task. The writing, research, and the reading of such essays deepens our humanity.

PREVENTION OF TOBACCO SMOKING

ENVS 407-401/HSOC 407-401 – Mick Kulik

Cigarette smoking is a major public health problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Control reports that more than 80% of current adult tobacco users started smoking before age 18. The National Youth Tobacco Survey indicated that 12.8% of middle school students and 34.8% of high school students in their study used some form of tobacco products. In ENVS 407, Penn undergraduates learn about the short and long term physiological consequences of smoking, social influences and peer norms regarding tobacco use, the effectiveness of cessation programs, tobacco advocacy and the impact of the tobacco settlement. Penn students will collaborate with teachers in West Philadelphia to prepare and deliver lessons to middle school students. The undergraduates will survey and evaluate middle school and Penn student smoking. One of the course goals is to raise awareness of the middle school children to prevent addiction to tobacco smoke during adolescence. Collaboration with the middle schools gives Penn students the opportunity to apply their study of the prevention of tobacco smoking to real world situations.

COMMUNITY BASED ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

ENVS 406-401/HSOC 406-401; Richard Pepino

Benjamin Franklin Seminar

From the fall of the Roman Empire to Love Canal to the epidemics of asthma, childhood obesity and lead poisoning in West Philadelphia, the impact of the environment on health has been a continuous challenge to society. The environment can affect people's health more strongly than biological factors, medical care and lifestyle. The water we drink, the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the neighborhood we live in are all components of the environment that impact our health. Some estimates, based on morbidity and mortality statistics, indicate that the impact of the environment on health is as high as 80%. These impacts are particularly significant in urban areas like West Philadelphia. Over the last 20 years, the field of environmental health has matured and expanded to become one of the most comprehensive and humanly relevant disciplines in science. This course will examine not only the toxicity of physical agents, but also the effects on human health of lifestyle, social and economic factors, and the built environment. Topics include cancer clusters, water borne diseases, radon and lung cancer, lead poisoning, environmental tobacco smoke, respiratory diseases and obesity. Students will research the health impacts of classic industrial pollution case studies in the US. Class discussions will also include risk communication, community outreach and education, access to health care and impact on vulnerable populations. Each student will have the opportunity to focus on Public Health, Environmental Protection, Public Policy, and Environmental Education issues as they discuss approaches to mitigating environmental health risks. This honors seminar will consist of lectures, guest speakers, readings, student presentations, discussions, research, and community service. The students will have two small research assignments including an Environmental and Health Policy Analysis and an Industrial Pollution Case Study Analysis. Both assignments will include class presentations. The major research assignment for the course will be a problem-oriented research paper and presentation on a topic related to community-based environmental health selected by the student. In this paper, the student must also devise practical recommendations for the problem based on their research.

HEALTHY SCHOOLS

PSCI 335/HSOC 335 - Mary Summers, Jane Kauer

This course will develop a pilot program to test the efficacy of using service-learning teams of undergraduates and graduate students to facilitate the development of School Health Councils (SHCs) and the Center for Disease Control's School Health Index (SHI) school self-assessment and planning tool in two elementary schools in West Philadelphia.

*THE NEW AFRICAN DIASPORA: AFRICAN IMMIGRANT LIVES IN WEST PHILADELPHIA

AFST-167-401/HIST-167-401/AFRC-167-401/URBS-167-401- Lee Cassanelli, Anastasia Shown

This seminar will examine the experiences of recent African immigrants and refugees in Philadelphia in an historical and comparative framework. We will employ a variety of sources--newspapers, census data, legal briefs, literature and film, and diaspora internet sites--to explore the lives, aspirations, and perceptions of Philadelphia's African residents. There will be opportunities for dialogue with high school students, teachers, and parents; with representatives of African community and business organizations; and with local government and service agencies. Students will be required to do a final project which involves volunteering with an African immigrant non-profit or business and/or conducting focused research on specific African communities in Philadelphia.

FOOD: PSYCHOLOGICAL, BIOLOGICAL, & CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES

PSYCH 070-001/BENF 226-301 – Paul Rozin

Benjamin Franklin Seminar

Food is a biological essential for humans, but one that has been elaborated and transformed in many ways through history, and given a variety of cultural signatures. This course will consider food from the point of view of different disciplines. It will also serve as medium for promoting critical thinking and quantitative skills, particularly through exercises in data collection (both observation and experiment), basic statistics and interpretation of results. The course will partner with the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative.

SOCIAL POLICY AND CITIZENSHIP

PSCI-498-302- Antje Schwennicke

This course explores the concept of social citizenship. We take as our point of departure T.H. Marshall's idea of social rights and citizenship and explore modern day realizations of it, as well as historical and recent alternative adaptations. These concepts are applied to the realization of social rights in the United States, with particular attention to education,

food, and health care policies. Additionally, we explore a variety of Western European takes on social citizenship by investigating social rights in Britain, Germany, and Denmark. Finally, we take the concept of citizenship to the global level and explore the social rights and responsibilities of global citizenship. Students combine theory and practice complementing their in-class examination of these topics with productive engagement in already-ongoing community projects in the Philadelphia area.

ACADEMICALLY BASED COMMUNITY SERVICE COURSE IN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE/DEAF STUDIES

LING 077 – Jami Fisher

For this course, students will attend Pennsylvania School for the Deaf on a weekly basis where they will participate in and contribute to the school community through mutually determined activities. Students will also have formal class on a weekly basis with discussions and activities centering on reflection of community experiences through linguistic as well as cultural lenses. Additionally, drawing from the required Linguistics and other ASL/Deaf Studies coursework, students will develop an inquiry question and conduct preliminary community-based research to analyze sociolinguistic variations of ASL and Deaf cultural attitudes, behaviors, and norms. Ongoing reflections and discussions—formal and informal—on Deaf cultural/theoretical topics drawing from readings as well as community experiences will be integral to the course experience. A minimum of four semesters of American Sign Language and LING 078, Topics in Deaf Culture, are required for this course.

:-) FACULTY-STUDENT COLLABORATIVE ACTION SEMINAR IN URBAN UNIVERSITY-COMMUNITY RELATIONS

HIST 173-401/URBS 178-401/AFRC 078-401 – Ira Harkavy and Theresa Simmonds

Fulfills the Cultural Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

Benjamin Franklin Seminar

THE BIG PICTURE: MURAL ARTS IN PHILADELPHIA

FNAR 222/FNAR 622/URBS 322 – Jane Golden & Shira Walinsky

The history and practice of the contemporary mural movement couples step by step analysis of the process of designing a mural. In addition, students will learn to see mural art as a tool for social change.

MUSIC IN URBAN SPACES

MUSC 018-401/URBS 018-401 – Molly McGlone

Freshman Seminar

Fulfills the Cross Cultural Analysis Foundational Requirement

Music in Urban Spaces explores the ways in which individuals use music in their everyday lives and how music is used to construct larger social and economic networks that we call culture. We will read musicologists, cultural theorists, urban geographers, urban educators and sociologists who work to define urban space, arts education and the role of music and sound in urban environments. While the readings we do will inform our conversations and the questions we ask, it is within the context of our personal experiences working with a group of students at West Philadelphia High School and Henry C. Lea Elementary, two urban schools serving economically disadvantaged students, that we will begin to formulate our theories of the musical micro-cultures of West Philadelphia and education’s role in shaping socio-economic realities. We will first consider what the listening and performing culture was when we were growing up and how, if at all, this music reflected the local definition of our environment as urban, suburban, or rural. In our work supporting classroom music teachers and after school music programs, we will consider the role that music plays in our cultural and social identities as well as how music and other extracurricular programs influence future educational opportunities. In what ways does the participation or consumption of music allow for social or economic mobility in urban spaces? Do the students in the high school or the elementary music programs use music to reflect, reject, or reinforce stereotypes about their own race, ethnicity, gender, or class? Class participants will be asked to create music videos or write research papers that develop a question of their interest related to music, education, social capital, and urban space. Ultimately seminar participants will ask does music reflect or change the cultural capital of those who participate in specific listening and/or performance spaces?

THE ART OF SPEAKING: COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE CURRICULUM SPEAKING ADVISOR TRAINING

COLL 135-301 – Sue Weber

Communication Within the Curriculum Course

This course is designed to equip students with the major tenets of rhetorical studies and peer education necessary to work as a CWiC speaking advisor. The course is a practicum that aims to develop students' abilities as speakers, as critical listeners and as advisors able to help others develop those abilities. In addition to creating and presenting individual presentations, students present workshops and practice advising. During this ABCS course, students will practice their advising skills by coaching and mentoring students at a public school in West Philadelphia.

STEM CELL SCIENCE IN SCHOOLS: HISTORY, ETHICS, AND EDUCATION

STSC 302/HSOC 302- Jamie Shuda

This course will provide University of Pennsylvania and local Philadelphia High School students with the opportunity to learn fundamental biology concepts and apply them in a hands-on, inquiry-based approach that is also attentive to society, history and social context. Biological sciences have long been deeply engaged with social issues, and our topics for this course reflect their relevance to everyday life. Topics of this course will include, but are not limited to, cell development and stem cell biology, which form the basis of the emerging field of Regenerative Medicine.

ONE BOOK ONE PHILADELPHIA ONE PENN

ENGL-115-302- Lorene Cary

This advanced fiction writing class uses the current One Book One Philadelphia choice, The Yellow Birds, as a tutorial, a prompt, and a connection to communities of literature and literary learning outside the UPenn classroom and campus. Penn students create their own writing exercises based on the book. Penn writers share those exercises with high school students, and publish the work that results on a special website linked to the Free Library's site, the school's site, and our own. Then, based on our own exercises, the UPenn writers will create fiction enriched by our common experience.

THE BIOLOGY OF FOOD

BIOL 017-001 – Scott Poethig

Fulfills the Living World Sector Requirement

This course will examine the ways in which humans manipulate - and have been manipulated by - the organisms we depend on for food, with particular emphasis on the biological factors that influence this interaction. The first part of the course will cover the biology, genetics, evolution, and breeding of cultivated plants and animals; the second part will concern the ways in which food/plants can cause and cure human disease. This course will partner with the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative.

FRANKLIN COMMUNITY SEMINAR

URBS-305-301- Kent Bream

The Urbs 305 seminar in which all Franklin Community residents will participate and act as a linchpin for the community's shared understanding of theory and action, as related to the goals of the Franklin Community: "A learning and living community dedicated to the issues of social justice, civic engagement, entrepreneurship, and intercultural understanding". This course is restricted to residents of the Franklin Community only.

*URBAN ETHNOGRAPHY: DOCUMENTING THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE

ANTH-320-401/COMM-320-401/URBS-321-401- John L. Jackson

How do qualitative social scientists study urban communities? What kinds of powerful tales can be told about urban lifestyles and social issues/conflicts in places like Philadelphia? This course will allow students to study various ethnographic treatments ofurban communities in the United States, using films, articles, TV serials, and books as guides for the framing of their own independent research and mediaproductions on the streets of Philadelphia.

NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY

ANTH-359-401/URBS-359-401/HSOC-359-401- Francis E. Johnston, Jarrett Stein

Utilizing a problem-solving approach, students will examine food and food systems in communities and their impacts on the well-being of their members. While the course will trace the evolution of the human diet, its emphasis will be on over and under malnutrition in present day societies and determinants such as poverty, economic systems, and cultural factors. Through placements in WestPhiladelphia community schools, students will engage in programs designed to improve the nutritional status of students and the community.

SOFTWARE DESIGN & ENGINEERING

CIS 350-001 – Chris Murphy. CIS 240 is a prerequisite.

Additional course info: http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~cdmurphy/cis350/index.shtml

You know how to write a "program". But how do you create a software "product" as part of a team, with customers that have expectations of functionality and quality? This course introduces students to various tools(source control, automated build systems, programming environments, test automation, etc.) and processes (design, implementation, testing, and maintenance) that are used by professionals in the field of software engineering. Topics will include: software development lifecycle; agile andtest-driven development; source control and continuous integration; requirements analysis; object-oriented design and testability; Android application development; software testing; refactoring; and software quality metrics.

*REBEL VENTURES SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP INDEPENDENT STUDY

Ian MacMillan

The Rebel Ventures Social Entrepreneurship Independent Study works directly with the AUNI Director- Academic Partnerships, Rebel Ventures Chief Executive Officer, and Rebel Ventures crew to analyze Rebel Ventures current business model and future growth potential to develop a strategic plan to sustainably expand the program in high-schools throughout the School District of Philadelphia. This involves researching similar social ventures, identifying best practices and fatal flaws, and applying them to Rebel Ventures. Please e-mail Ian MacMillan at macmilli@wharton.upenn.edu to register.

*INTERDISCIPLINARY CHILD ADVOCACY CLINIC: ENRICHING ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT THROUGH INTEGRATED COMMUNITY EDUCATION

LAW-649-001- Kara Finck, Diane Smith-Hoban

Students in the clinic represent adolescent and youth clients on a variety of matters including child welfare cases, immigration proceedings, education issues and health related matters. As part of the seminar, clinic students will also have access to experts and guest lecturers from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn’s School of Social Policy and Practice to assist with their interdisciplinary representation of clients and examination of laws and policies affecting children and families.

Graduate Courses

HEALTH AND EDUCATION: DISPARITIES AND PREVENTION IN SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES

EDUC-645-001- Vivian L. Gadsden

Drawing upon research and scholarship in health and education, this course aims to deepen our knowledge, understanding, and ability to effect positive change in the health and health practices of students and families in urban settings, using schools and community agencies as sites of engagement.

HEALTH PROMOTION INTRODUCTION

DENT 508 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

*ONLY OPEN TO DENTAL STUDENTS

LOCAL AND GLOBAL PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY HEALTH

DENT 612 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

*ONLY OPEN TO DENTAL STUDENTS

PRACTICUM IN COMMUNITY HEALTH PROMOTION I

DENT 712 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

*ONLY OPEN TO DENTAL STUDENTS

PRACTICUM IN COMMUNITY HEALTH PROMOTION II

DENT 812 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

*ONLY OPEN TO DENTAL STUDENTS

*INTERDISCIPLINARY CHILD ADVOCACY CLINIC: ENRICHING ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT THROUGH INTEGRATED COMMUNITY EDUCATION

LAW-649-001-14A- Kara Finck, Diane Smith-Hoban

Students in the clinic represent adolescent and youth clients on a variety of matters including child welfare cases, immigration proceedings, education issues and health related matters. As part of an interdisciplinary legal team with graduate level social work students and a social work supervisor, clinic students will identify legal issues, use interdisciplinary practice skills to advocate for their clients and appear in a variety of venues. As part of the seminar, clinic students will also have access to experts and guest lecturers from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn’s School of Social Policy and Practice to assist with their interdisciplinary representation of clients and examination of laws and policies affecting children and families.

*VISUAL LEGAL ADVOCACY CLINIC: DOCUMENTARIES AND THE LAW

LAW-979-001- Regina Austin

The objectives of the Documentaries & the Law Course are as follows: to develop the skills required for reviewing or critiquing law-genre documentaries; to understand the role of lawyering (or “legalling”) in the creative process by which documentaries are made (including analysis of such issues as consent and invasion of privacy; copyright and fair use; truth and defamation); to explore the range of existing uses of visual or video legal advocacy in various legal proceedings or contexts (ranging from video settlement documentaries to victim impact statements and video clemency petitions); and to gain an understanding of the rudiments of nonfiction film storytelling. Regina Austin, “The Next ‘New Wave’: Law-Genre Documentaries, Lawyering in Support of the Creative Process, and Visual Legal Advocacy,” 16 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 809 (2006), is essentially a primer for the course.

PEDIARTIC ACUTE CARE NURSE PRACTIONER: PROFESSIONAL ROLE AND INTERMEDIATE CLINICAL PRACTICE: DANCE FOR HEALTH

NURS-737-001- Judy Verger, Susan Campisciano

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are more prevalent in areas of poverty and in African American and Hispanic populations, and thus require interventions that are culturally relevant and targeted to the needs of the community. Dance has been successfully used in low income African American communities as en enjoyble method of obesity reduction. Dance for Heath is the key component of NURS737-advanced clinical practice for pediatric acute care nurse practicioners. This program is a collaborative initiative among the The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, West Philadelphia High School students who are members of the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative (UNI), and a community recreation center. For the first part of the initiative, Penn Nurse Practicioner Students will provide an interactive curriculum for the UNI students based on the needs identified by UNI staff and students. Subsequently, the Penn/UNI team will undertake a project in the community directed at increasing activity in the community. This project will actively engage the community in each component of planning and implementation in order to create community-driven programming.

Report of the Ad Hoc Faculty Committee on Community Engaged Scholarship Now Available

PENN STUDENTS: click here to browse opportunities to engage with the West Philadelphia community!

ABCS 2013-2014